This invention relates generally to the shoring of foundations, and more specifically pertains to a method and arrangement of components for providing pier underpinning of settling foundations.
The settling of foundations or buildings, residences, or the like, has perennially been a problem for the homeowner, and his contractor, after acquisition of particularly new constructions. In certain areas where new buildings are constructed upon fill material, subsequent settling of the ground frequently leads to foundation problems either in the form of its cracking, or settling, which must be remedied in order to prevent sbbstantial damage that normally necessitates expensive repairs to the building substructure. In addition, where buildings may be constructed upon ground that is formed of clay or other related type materials, and which during dry spells frequently shrinks and contracts to the extent that building settling occurs, some supplemental support must be provided for the building foundation in order to prevent the building from sustaining major damage of its integral structure.
Numerous methods have been devised for remedying the problem of building settling, many of them requiring substantial manual labor accomplishing their intended results, or in the alternative, providing a rather quick method for shoring up a building foundation, but generally only providing temporary relief due to the lack of integral support that may be provided and needed to the entire building per se.
A variety of prior patents have issued upon inventions in this field, and one such early invention is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 263,130 to Breuchaud, wherein there is disclosed a preliminary concept that utilizes hydraulic or other jack means located within a dugout recess provided proximate the foundation wall, particularly at that location where the building is sinking, then through the use of jacks provides for a driving of a plurality of column sections down into the ground until bedrock is encountered, and then locating a series of beams upon the top column section for use in forming a support for the foundation or wall.
A more recent patent, that being disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,055 to Mahony, discloses another method and apparatus for underpinning and raising a building foundation, wherein a jack is placed adjacent the side edge of a building foundation portion, with pipe pile sections then being driven into the ground a sufficient distance until solid material is encountered and which is contemplated to support the foundation structure. Following this, a cap is placed onto the top pipe pile, and a concrete pad is poured thereupon having the base of a jack also embedded therein. The jack is then raised into place contacting the underside of the foundation wall, after a mechanical jack is actuated for raising the foundation to its desirable unsettled level. Finally, this jack or support is embedded in place within the body of the poured concrete. Unlike the current invention, the concept of this patented invention does not include the formation of a concrete pier, by pouring concrete down into the pipe pile sections, after bedrock is encountered. In addition, the pipe sections are arranged apparently slightly laterally of the foundation, rather than directly beneath it, due to the nature of the driving assembly that is utilized in the disclosed methods.
A variety of other patents that have also issued upon this concept are as follows. The earlier patent to Breuchaud, U.S. Pat. No. 957,844, discloses other means for providing pipe sections underneath a foundation for supporting the same. In addition, the U.S. Pat. No. 3,685,301 to Heacox, and the patent to Goldsborough, U.S. Pat. No. 1,063,869, disclose other more complex structures for underpinning buildings, with the former patent utilizing means for embedding of cylinders into the ground to provide support for the foundation wall. The patent to Clark, U.S. Pat. No. 1,181,212, discloses the driving of pipes into the ground for underpinning foundation walls, while the U.S. Pat. No. 918,100 to Thomson discloses another method for performing the same. Finally, the construction of supports for walls is shown in still another U.S. Pat. No. 570,370 to Mr. Breuchaud.
It is, therefore, the principal object of this invention, particularly in view of what has been previously developed, to provide means and apparatus for forming steel cylinder reinforced concrete piers that extend down to bedrock in their emplacement, without necessitating the digging of earth down to such level during the pier installation.
Another object of this invention is to provide means for underpinning a settling foundation through the application of quantities of poured concrete that not only form the concrete and steel combined piers for the underpinning construction, but likewise, such poured concrete is useful for providing a support between the capped off formed piers and the underside of the foundation footing to be supported.
Still another object of this invention is to provide the concept of embedding a mechanical or other type of jack directly within the formed concrete support furnished for shoring up the sagging foundation.
Still another object of this invention is to provide the concept of vibrating the poured concrete during its application for forming the concrete piers, caps, and support for a foundation wall so as to assure its compaction before setting and curing.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a series of pipe sections that connect together and can be firmly driven into the ground through the use of hydraulic jack means for encountering bedrock before any concrete is poured in formation of the foundation support.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a method for performing the foregoing operations, for constructing the type of foundation support described, and which process can be accomplished through a minimum use of manual labor than had heretofore been required.
These and other objects will become more apparent to those skilled in the art upon reviewing the summary of this invention, and upon undertaking a study of the description of its preferred embodiment, in view of the drawing.